Eke Tangaroa delivers Marsden success
Two researchers from AUT’s Eke Tangaroa programme have achieved Marsden Fund success with their research projects receiving funding in the latest 2023 round.
Dr Megan Phillips (Ngāti Hape) and Dr Dion Henare (Ngāti Whātua), both Eke Tangaroa kaihoe (appointees), received Marsden Fund Fast-Start grants, each receiving $360,000.
Eke Tangaroa is AUT’s programme designed to increase its number of Māori and Pacific academics and has been led by Kaiurungi Professor Georgina Stewart (Ngāpuhi) since August 2022.
Georgina says having two Eke Tangaroa-linked projects in the recent Marsden Funding round was a testament to not only the hard work and excellence delivered by the researchers but also the success of the programme.
“It has been a strategic initiative to show what the programme and its appointees are capable of and reflect our belief in the kaihoe as future stars of Māori and Pacific research”, Georgina says.
Since taking on the role of Kaiurungi, Georgina has developed and led a series of bespoke workshops that support and encourage kaihoe to develop a research idea that could earn them a Marsden Fast Start grant.
Three kaihoe submitted expressions of interest (EOIs) in February 2023, and of those, Megan and Dion were invited to full proposal before receiving the results in the latest round.
Dion says he acknowledges the leadership and contributions of Georgina to Eke Tangaroa and her support.
“Much of this success is due to the hours she put in providing feedback on every stage of the process from the initial idea to the final proposal and reviewer responses,” he says.
The Marsden Fund is administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand and supports leading researchers in Aotearoa to explore new ideas.
Georgina says this result represents the fruition of her plans to see the Eke Tangaroa programme secure Marsden Funding in the two years since taking on the leadership.
“We want AUT to be a place where Māori and Pacific academics are actively involved in all of the university's activities, from teaching, to research, to leadership.
AUT strives to be the university of choice for Māori and Pacific academics and Eke Tangaroa represents that aspiration by growing and fostering our Māori and Pacific early-career academic community, and the recent successes of our kaihoe attests to our journey towards that vision,” she says.
Effects of ambient sound on beverage choice and sales: A population level study
Dr Megan Phillips (Business School), will partner with Professor Dipayan Biswas (University of South Florida), Associate Professor Courtney Szocs (Pennsylvania State University), and Dr Eduardo Rech (Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul), to investigate the little-known consequences of ambient sound (i.e., pitch, volume) on alcoholic beverage purchasing at retail outlets selling alcohol.
This project aims to get a crucial understanding of how ambient sound loudness influences beverage choice and sales in the context of prevalence of harmful drinking in New Zealand and the social and health inequities it creates.
The findings will benefit retailers, policymakers, and consumers by providing design recommendations for safer and more responsible retail operations, and inform the development of guidelines and regulations that promote responsible marketing practices.
Total funding is $360,000.
Revealing the hidden attentional biases embedded by previous experience
Dr Dion Henare (School of Clinical Sciences) aims to measure, for the first time, the neural basis of how personal experience embeds attentional biases in the human brain.
This project will look beyond recent research that has established the importance of experience-based attention for shaping our behaviour over time, to get a better understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying this process. Additionally, it includes a plan to explore related concepts within mātauranga Māori.
By combining cutting-edge electroencephalogram (EEG) experiments and AI-based tools, this research has significant potential application for understanding disorders with attentional abnormalities like ADHD and schizophrenia, and for understanding the development of expertise.
Total funding is $360,000.
Eke Tangaroa is also celebrating the successful promotion of its kaihoe. Dr Betty Ofe-Grant (Samoa), Dr Deborah Heke (Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa), Dr Dion Enari (Samoa) and Dr Sierra Keung have all been promoted from lecturer to senior lecturer. Dr Megan Phillips was also promoted to senior lecturer above the bar.